Weirder is better, and so are surprises.
1. Squarespace – “Om” – My takeaway from Super Bowl XLIX: We’ll all be better off if we just let Jeff Bridges lead us in meditation.
Best 2015 Super Bowl Commercials
February 2, 2015
Commercials, Sports, Super Bowl Commercials, Television Leave a comment
SNL Recap January 31, 2015: J.K. Simmons/D’Angelo
February 2, 2015
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television D'Angelo, J.K. Simmons, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 40, SNL, SNL Season 40 Leave a comment
SNL: J.K. Simmons Monologue (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in December 2015.
J.K. Simmons is the presumptive Oscar favorite this year for Best Supporting Actor. It is appropriate that he is in the Supporting field, considering that he has spent a few decades as a character actor, elevating the quality of his projects, no matter what the size of his role. Interestingly, though, his role in “Whiplash” is prominent enough that it could be considered a Lead. He certainly has the talent and charisma to be a star, but this episode mostly kept him confined to the supporting roles that he is used to. He was perfectly fine in them, but he could have done more. And in the few moments when he was given the chance to do more, he really shone. Meanwhile, this show continued Season 40’s heavy focus on original material, with the only recurring characters appearing on Weekend Update. That originality was a little inconsistent, but very welcome when the proceedings got weird late in the night.
Super Bowl Shutdown – “SNL” once again proved that it has been paying attention to the major stories of the week. Richard Sherman and Marshawn Lynch have been flipping the script on Super Bowl coverage, and this cold opening … acknowledged that. Lynch’s propensity to repeat the same stock answer is amusing, but it proved difficult to build a sketch around. The talk show format, while a tired one, was helpful here, as it masked some of the holes in the premise. B-
What Won TV? – January 25-January 31, 2015
February 1, 2015
Television, What Won TV? Leave a comment
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – Bob’s Burgers
Monday – Jeopardy!
Tuesday – Parks and Recreation
Wednesday – Broad City
Thursday – A solid series finale from Parenthood
Friday – TIE: Key & Peele‘s Super Bowl Special/Comedy Bang! Bang!/Newsreaders
Saturday – Goof Troops, Japanese Messy Boys, D’Angelo, and Kanye West saying “Holy guacamole” on SNL
VH1 Top 20 Countdown – 1/31/15
January 31, 2015
Music, Television, VH1 Top 20 Countdown Leave a comment
Each week, I check out VH1′s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
2. Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
3. Nick Jonas – “Jealous”
4. Sam Smith – “I’m Not the Only One”
5. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
6. Hozier – “Take Me to Church”
7. Selena Gomez – “The Heart Wants What It Wants”
8. Meghan Trainor – “Lips Are Movin”
9. Ella Henderson – “Ghost”
10. Lilly Wood & Robin Schulz – “Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix)”
11. Alesso ft. Tove Lo – “Heroes (We Could Be)”
12. OneRepublic – “I Lived”
13. Fifth Harmony – “Sledgehammer”
14. Fall Out Boy – “Centuries”
15. Hoodie Allen ft. Ed Sheeran – “All About It”
16. Pitbull & Ne-Yo – “Time of Our Lives”
17. Matt Nathanson ft. Lolo – “Headphones”
18. Maroon 5 – “Sugar”
19. Ingrid Michaelson – “Afterlife”
20. Charli XCX ft. Rita Ora – “Doing It”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Take Me to Church
2. Blank Space
3. Doing It
4. Jealous
5. Prayer in C (Robin Schulz Remix)
6. Ghost
7. Uptown Funk
8. Centuries
9. Time of Our Lives
10. I’m Not the Only One
11. Heroes (We Could Be)
12. The Heart Wants What It Wants
13. Sledgehammer
14. Sugar
15. Afterlife
16. I Lived
17. Lips Are Movin
18. All About It
19. Thinking Out Loud
20. Headphones
Watch And/Or Listen to This: East West Bowl 3: Pro Edition
January 28, 2015
Key & Peele, Television, Watch And/Or Listen to This Leave a comment
Shit just got real.
Fuse Top 20 Countdown – 1/27/15
January 27, 2015
Fuse Top 20 Countdown, Music, Television Leave a comment
Each week, I check out FUSE’s Top 20 countdown, and then I rearrange the songs based on my estimation of their quality.
Original Version
1. Taylor Swift – “Blank Space”
2. Hozier – “Take Me to Church”
3. Nick Jonas – “Jealous”
4. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
5. Ariana Grande ft. The Weeknd – “Love Me Harder”
6. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud”
7. Selena Gomez – “The Heart Wants What It Wants”
8. Sam Smith – “I’m Not the Only One”
9. Meghan Trainor – “Lips Are Movin”
10. Alesso ft. Tove Lo – “Heroes (We Could Be)”
11. Fall Out Boy – “Centuries”
12. Big Sean ft. E40 – “IDFWU”
13. I LOVE MAKONNEN ft. Drake – “Tuesday (Remix)”
14. Beyoncé – “7/11”
15. Rae Sremmurd – “No Type”
16. Fifth Harmony – “Sledgehammer”
17. Ella Henderson – “Ghost”
18. One Direction – “Night Changes”
19. OneRepublic – “I Lived”
20. Pitbull & Ne-Yo – “Time of Our Lives”
Jmunney’s Revision
1. Love Me Harder
2. Take Me to Church
3. Blank Space
4. Jealous
5. Ghost
6. Uptown Funk
7. Centuries
8. IDFWU
9. No Type
10. Time of Our Lives
11. 7/11
12. I’m Not the Only One
13. Heroes (We Could Be)
14. The Heart Wants What It Wants
15. Tuesday (Remix)
16. Sledgehammer
17. I Lived
18. Night Changes
19. Lips Are Movin
20. Thinking Out Loud
Mulaney 5.11: “Power Moves”
January 26, 2015
Mulaney, Mulaney Episode Reviews, Television Leave a comment
I think John Mulaney looks good in a tank top. http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2015/01/26/mulaney-season-1-episode-11-recap-he-h
Bob’s Burgers 5.10: “Late Afternoon in the Garden of Bob and Louise”
January 26, 2015
Bob's Burgers, Bob's Burgers Episode Reviews, Television Leave a comment
Bob is a Belcher family member, but he’s ranked like fourth or fifth: http://www.starpulse.com/news/Jeffrey_Malone/2015/01/26/bobs-burgers-season-5-episode-10-recap
SNL Recap January 24, 2015: Blake Shelton
January 26, 2015
Saturday Night Live, SNL Weekly Recaps, Television Blake Shelton, Saturday Night Live, Saturday Night Live Season 40, SNL, SNL Season 40 Leave a comment
SNL: Blake Shelton, Cecily Strong (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)
This review was originally posted on Starpulse in January 2015.
The last time a male country music star hosted “SNL,” the results were a lot more interesting. The thing is, Tim McGraw has much more acting experience than Blake Shelton, and thus he was a lot more comfortable branching out home from his country persona than Shelton was in this episode. “The Voice” judge mostly stuck to variations of himself or generic roles. This was fine for ensuring a show that ran smoothly, but it also prevented his appearance from being a truly memorable one.
Inside the NFL – This take on the New England Patriots deflated ball scandal made the weird decision of focusing on a whiny Tom Brady. Brady is sometimes criticized for being an arrogant pretty boy, which is basically the antithesis of what Taran Killam was playing him as. The idea may have been that in playing dumb, he was being someone he clearly wasn’t, but that didn’t really stick as comedy. Luckily, Bobby Moynihan saved the day as Dougie Spoons, one of his classic hype men characters. The “A Few Good Men” parody was unexpected, but more or less successful. C+
What Won TV? – January 18-January 24, 2015
January 26, 2015
Television, What Won TV? Leave a comment
In this feature, I look back at each day of the past week and determine what shows “won TV” for the night. That is, I consider every episode of television I watched that aired on a particular day and declare which was the best.
Sunday – Mike Tyson Mysteries
Monday – The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
Tuesday – The 2nd half hour of Parks and Recreation
Wednesday – Man Seeking Woman
Thursday – Portlandia
Friday – “Bird Up” (The Eric Andre Show) is the worst show on television, and the best episode of TV of 2015. (Honorable Mention: Reggie Watts and the Coachella Initiative on Comedy Bang! Bang!)
Saturday – Who let Riblet back in?
